The Cutting

By James Hayman

Book Overview

The first novel in the nationally bestselling McCabe and Savage series--perfect for fans of John Sandford and CJ Box. Someone is stealing the hearts of beautiful women... Detective Mike McCabe moved from a top homicide job with the NYPD to Portland, Maine to leave his failed marriage and suspicions of wrongdoing behind, and to find a more peaceful life for himself and his 13 year old daughter. But the small New England city is not nearly as safe as he thought. On a warm September night, a missing high-school athlete is found dead in a scrap metal yard, her heart removed from her body with surgical precision. As outrage over the killing spreads, a young business woman disappears while out on a morning jog. McCabe is certain both crimes are the work of one man--a murderer skilled in cardiac surgery who is using his scalpel to target young women. With the clock ticking, McCabe and his partner Maggie Savage find themselves in a desperate race against time to find and rescue the missing woman before she becomes the next victim of the sadistic killer's blade.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0062362992
• ISBN13: 9780062362995
• Release Date: July 2014
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

I couldn't put it down!

I thoroughly enjoyed The Cutting, and couldn't put it down till I had devoured every page. Towards the end, I was so spooked that after work I had to sit in the park and finish reading the book, because my boyfriend wasn't home and I was too scared to come home to an empty house! Now that's the mark of a good thriller! I can't wait for Hayman's next...

A New Master of the Thriller

Chances are you've never heard of James Hayman before, but you're going to hear a lot more about him. THE CUTTING is a first novel, but it doesn't read like an apprentice effort. Hayman's getting a late start as a fiction writer, but he's right up there with his idol Michael Connelly as a master of the police suspense thriller. Michael McCabe, is a cop who's left New York for a new job in Portland, Maine -- not exactly known as a high crime city. Only a young girl has turned up murdered, and another has disappeared -- and if he's right about the motive involved, that second girl has only a week to live. It doesn't help that the local powers-that-be are getting on his case as he works the case. As if that weren't enough, he has personal crises to deal with -- including his ex-wife who wants to get back into his daughter's life after ignoring her for years (McCabe has another woman in his life -- two, if you count his partner on the case.). But while mastering all the ins-and-outs of the police procedural, Hayman adds some delicious variations of his own -- a vital clue to the mystery lies in movie lore. Your next step: order THE CUTTING here, or run (do not walk) to your book store. --John J. Pierce

Finally out of the big cities

The Cutting breaks with tradition and moves the genre outside the big cities. I am reminded of the Swedish writers Maj S? and Per Wahloo who took their mysteries to an unexpected and intriguing locale. This is, I hope, the beginnining of a new character who can last in a locale that has much to be explored. This is a dynamite read. Kept me up til the wee hours. Bill Green, New York

A gripping "smart" thriller

From the moment Lucy began her jog around Western Promenade I was hooked. I stayed up all night reading this book, cheering on Detective McCabe, hoping against hope that there wouldn't be another victim. This book is a must read. It's gripping. It's smart. And you'll love the characters. It's a complex thriller with layers of crime and interpersonal relationships brilliantly intertwined. I highly recommend this book for your summer reading.

A real page turner!

The Cutting is a great read from beginning to end. It kept me wanting to know what was going to happen on the next page so I had trouble putting it down. A great setting, wonderful characters, a compelling story and timeline. I hope this is the beginning of a long series of Sergeant Michael McCabe books. For those of us who love the genre, it is to be savored and shared.